Then, too, human beings seem to be hardwired with a kind of self destruct mechanism--so, as God was the Creator of humanity, you could say He was still indirectly involved when a nation or culture falls down and goes boom under the weight of its own depravity.

Over all, though, I'd say God gets way too much of the blame for human thanatos.

But not today. I think it happened in the OT under the old covenant, but under the New Covenant. Eventually, the bible says that God will pour out his wrath on the whole world and start over so ultimately? Yes.

Why ask opinions when you can go to the scriptures and read for yourself? Everyone is a free moral agent and can choose to do good or evil. Deuteronomy c.28 starts off with pronounced blessings on those that do good and then follows with curses for those that do evil; individual and national. You can look at the curses and see if any of them are taking place today in America.

Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!

If a god or (and this would be a little more likely) gods exist (I personally don't think they do) then they'd be a total prejudicial prick I mean seriously? Killing hundreds or thousands of people because some o them live a lifestyle you don't agree with? sounds like a dictator to me.

And in my opinion that religion imposes some very out of date prejudicial rules that should've been dropped long ago even regular society has moved faster then them in showing acceptance and tolerance.

You can tell a lot about the nature of a person's character by the kind of God they choose to worship. Those who choose to worship a loving God are generally OK whereas those who believe in sadists you might wanna watch. :-)

It'd be a pretty sick and callous deity, unworthy of worship, to do something like that so indiscriminately...

I mean, come on. A hurricane hits a hurricane prone area during hurricane season and people blame a deity? Oh, and it gets better, if ONE child survives against all odds in a really bad incident, then it's a "MIRACLE". One survivor out of hundreds does not a miracle make, even if the survivor is effectively helpless. ESPECIALLY if said survivor was just orphaned by the incident.

Again, that's a pretty cruel and callous deity that would do something like that.

Yep, that's what the excuse would be and I guess having limbs blown off from land mines or other injuries caused by man made or natural disasters are part of his plan too. Seems more like child abuse to me.

Any parent would would willfully harm their children is not a parent worthy of having children, especially any parent who would tell one child to murder another and call it a moral act simply on the basis that they told their child to do it.